The present invention relates generally to sporting game scoring systems, and more specifically, to a system that allows a player or spectator to keep score during each game and tie break of a tennis match.
Tennis players are familiar with arguments between tennis players over the correct score during a game of tennis. Intense heat, intense focus on playing well, long rallies, the player serving neglecting to call out the score before serving, long injury breaks, and distracting arguments over line calls are some of the reasons players forget the score of the game.
Devices may already exist wherein an apparatus is affixed to a tennis racket for keeping score during a tennis-game. One possible marking device, like a lever or switch or dial, may be graduated to the correct, printed number. The numbers on these existing devices may use typical scoring for tennis: 0, 15, 30, etc. Thus, these devices require the player to locate a written number or word on the racquet utilizing fine motor skills. These devices, which rely on a dial, switch, sliding bar or other single marker to be moved a tiny amount of space onto a correct number or word, and not the incorrect number or word next to it, are difficult to use. Users sometimes have to concentrate on moving a scoring marker to the specific position marked with the typical tennis score, representing a numeric score.
These systems assume that tennis players participating in a gross motor skill sport would enjoy switching, between points, to the fine motor skill of manipulating small devices while searching for the correct small number, and, before marking the point, translating the point won into the typical tennis score, such as 0, 15, 30, etc., which can be numeric or a word score. However, in actual tennis matches when players are arguing about the correct score, they will invariably say, “I won the first point” and not, “I won the ‘15’ point.”
Numerous disadvantages are inherent in such systems. For example, such systems may call on the player to switch from gross motor skills and gross vision tasks, the playing of the tennis point, to fine motor skills and fine vision skills. Second, a player may need to move a marker into the correct position and read small numbers to mark the point. Also, each position abutting the next, there is the possibility of making a mistake (marking, say, 30 instead of 40). It may also require the user to a read small number and hold the racquet at a close and inconvenient location to do so. In some cases, a small number can only be read if the racquet is held in one particular position.
When resetting the prior-art device after a game has been won, the player has to look to see if he has returned the marking device to the number ‘0’ or the word ‘love’. Since a player's intense mental focus on gross motor skills during play of a tennis match might become slightly compromised by engaging in performing such fine motor skills and fine vision skills unnecessary to the game, he would probably avoid using such a scoring device. Finally, many past systems involved gluing a device onto the racket which, when removed or when it fell off, left a sticky residue, or other change to the racquet.
In accordance with one possible embodiment, a tennis-game score-keeping system and method consisting of a number of separate loops of elastic material which are affixed under light tension to the throat of a tennis racket. More than one loop are attached to the left side of the throat of the tennis racket and are positioned to represent the player's score and more than one loop are affixed to the right side of the throat of a tennis racket and are positioned to represent the opponent's score.
In another embodiment, an 8 loop score-keeping system and method is attached to an assembly with at least 2 elongated shafts, with 4 of the loops attached to a left shaft and 4 of the loops attached to a right shaft. In yet another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, no use may be made of the typical numeric tennis scores, such as 0, 15, 30, in the device itself. Instead, a binary scoring system may be used in one possible embodiment of the scoring system. Other advantages, features, and embodiments are described below.